chres·tom·a·thy (kr-stm-th)
n. pl. chres·tom·a·thies
1. A selection of literary passages, usually by one
author.
2. An anthology used in studying a language.
3. Another damn stupid liberal blog

Thursday, August 02, 2007

On Classism

A major problem that liberal religion faces is Classism. Far more than internalized racism and oppression, which I admit are still pertinent issues, classism taints the perception and perspective of many people. I include myself among the throngs.

I admit that I am guilty of classism, as are many educated people. The irony of my own personal prejudice is that my roots are decidedly humble. I have to remind myself every day that my own parents came from working-class roots.

My paternal grandfather had a sixth-grade education. My paternal grandmother had an eighth- grade education. Both of them worked long hours, six days a week, in often laborious and unhealthy servitude. They both worked over forty years in a textile mill. My father was the first person in his family to secure both a high school diploma and college degree. This is why he is one of my heroes.

My maternal grandfather and grandmother owned their own business, but it was no less humble. They drilled water wells. Well drilling is one of the dirtiest, most thankless jobs ever. It requires a large amount of physical strength as well as acumen. Neither my Grandfather nor my Grandfather went to college, but they made a point to insist that their four children go to college. And they did.

My father, through his own hard work, rose above his station and lived the American dream, raising myself and my two sisters as respectable middle-class. So it's deeply hypocritical of me to be so harshly critical and judgmental of the salt-of-the-earth types that make up the backbone of this country. I've analyzed why I have this bias, and I suppose I can trace it back to my Mother who filled my head full of prejudicial notions of superiority. When I travel to more working-class regions of the country, I feel decidedly ill at ease. I can't say that I feel superior to working class citizens, but I am acutely aware of their own prejudices, which are more often than not products of ignorance.

I've never figured out an adequate way to address my own discomfort but I feel that keeping myself accountable is the best possible defense. I believe it's up to every individual to call themselves out and I am deeply uncomfortable when any organization, religious or otherwise, takes it upon themselves to take the tough love approach. I learned the hard way that people only change when they themselves take the time and effort to do so.

This is a big reason I left the Unitarian church. I felt that if their current model of Anti-Oppression and Anti-Racism, which I disagreed with strongly on principle, was to succeed then it needed to seriously address Classism before it even touched on racism and oppression. After all, nothing would put we religious liberals and educated folk on the spot faster than confronting our own classism. And it's an exercise that black and white, gay and straight, male and female, could all come to terms with. Instead of the left eating itself alive, I propose that the left make a serious effort for all its members to take a long hard look that goes beyond the current M.O.

I mean in particular their homophobia, racism, fear, and often close-minded attitudes based in ignorance. And in particular their attitudes that liberalism is something that is absolute anathema to them--particularly the idea that liberals don't share their concerns and look down their nose at them. And that liberals are akin to child molesters...liberal has taken on such a negative connotation amongst the working classes.

Do you know Renny Christopher's work? She's done a lot of great writing about growing up in a working-class family, and sexuality and gender attitudes now that she's middle-class, about classism (based in ignorance, fear, and closed-mindedness among the middle-class...). She's an excellent writer who really pushes many of these issues.

There was a really interesting study that came out last year (sorry, my brain won't come up with the reference, but I blogged about it). When only among "their own", college students said incredibly racist things, even while they came across as tolerant and enlightened in classes and in their academic work.

I wonder sometimes if the supposed "flaws" of the working class aren't just less well-hidden than those of the more privileged.

And then there's the whole southern/northern/west coast thing and differences in social attitudes that are at least partly geographic.